Omnichannel vs Multichannel —what’s the difference?

The terms omnichannel and multichannel involve engaging customers across multiple platforms, both in customer service and marketing. Despite being used interchangeably, not quite the same and there are a number of key differences between them:

• In a multichannel contact center, we offer customer service across multiple channels. While omnichannel means that customers can switch from one channel to another, for example, during chat conversation the customer switch to phone channel to make a call.
• In multichannel marketing, the same as in the contact center case, the term refers to multiple channels of communication between a brand and its audience. While, omnichannel is something else entirely: it is the interweaving of the virtual and real worlds.

This article explores the core differences and similarities between omnichannel and multichannel marketing strategies, detailing key touchpoints and their practical application. Crucially, we will treat the customer service contact center department as just one of those core channels.

Multichannel Marketing

Multichannel marketing involves engaging audiences through the use of multiple marketing channels, including email, web, mobile and social media. Multi-channel marketing is focused around each channel in isolation, without them being connected. Content is shared natively in-channel and often managed by siloed teams. As a result, customers who interact with a brand across different channels might receive a disjointed, inconsistent experience. For example, a customer might see an ad for a specific product on social media, buy it online, but then receive an email the next day promoting that same product.

Omnichannel Marketing

Omnichannel marketing focus less on individual channels and more on the overall customer journey. By connecting and integrating product, sales and customer data, as well as digital and physical channels, omnichannel offers a holistic approach that delivers a seamless customer experience — regardless of where they engage with a brand. This allows marketers to deliver exceptionally personalized omnichannel engagements, offering the right message to the right customer at the right time.

Crosschannel Marketing

Crosschannel marketing sits between multichannel and omnichannel marketing. It focuses on creating a coordinated and consistent experience for customers by connecting and integrating some, but not necessarily all, marketing channels.

In crosschannel marketing, marketers leverage data, insights, and technology to synchronize their messaging and campaigns across selected channels. For example, a customer who adds a product to their cart but leaves before making a purchase might receive an email including that product and other relevant recommendations. 

Cross-channel marketing delivers a more connected experience than multichannel marketing. However, it falls short compared to omnichannel marketing, which takes cross-channel a step further by unifying data and enriching it with AI and predictive intelligence to deliver a seamless customer experience across all online and offline touchpoints.

Why Omnichannel Marketing Deserves Your Budget?

1. Effective personalization

The modern shopper doesn’t just enjoy personalized experiences – they expect them. Omnichannel marketing helps you to deliver on those expectations and personalization goes beyond first names in subject lines. You can include more relevant messages, such as product recommendations, ads tailored to previous interactions, or push notifications related to user activity. By integrating your marketing channels and activating your product, sales and customer data, omnichannel marketing delivers 1:1 personalized, uniquely relevant shopping experiences across all channels that demonstrate a genuine understanding of your customers. 

2. Greater customer loyalty

A consistent experience builds brand trust. Customers are more likely to return if the brand “remembers” their preferences and contact history. Therefore, brands that want to maintain their leadership position must change their approach from new business to extracting value from their current customer base and keeping those first-time customers coming back for more. Research shows that even small successes in driving repeat purchases can have a dramatic impact on your bottom line. In fact, increasing customer retention rates by as little as 5% can boost profits by 25% to 95%. And when 31% of customers cite personalized, omnichannel experiences as the reason they repeat purchase and stay loyal to a brand, you can’t ignore this the opportunity. By creating seamless, 1:1 personalized experiences across multiple channels, you drive repeat purchases and grow customer loyalty. 

3. Improve Brand Recognition

On average, it takes seven touchpoints with a customer to drive a conversion. If you’re only engaging with your customers across two or three channels, you’re limiting your ability to get those all-important sales. 

By building an omnichannel marketing strategy, you’re equipped to meet your customers with the right message, in the right channel, at the right time.

From in-store to email, by meeting your customers wherever they spend their time, you keep your brand front of mind and increase the chance of securing the sale the next time they’re in the market for your product.

4. Increased sales and conversions

Companies with omnichannel approach get better sales results, recover abandoned carts more frequently, conduct remarketing more effectively, and better tailor their offerings to the customer’s purchasing stage. Omnichannel customers can conveniently continue the purchasing process wherever they find it most convenient.

5. Better return on marketing budget and increase revenue

Omnichannel marketing’s focus on data, channel integration, personalization and automated workflows can have an impressive impact on revenue. By analyzing the entire customer journey, it is easier to assess which channels actually influence sales, instead of just looking at the “last click,” and this significantly helps optimize marketing costs, resulting in up to 30% marketing cost savings. Additionally, an interesting conclusion comes from the research conducted by Forrester on behalf of SAP Engagement Cloud showed Research by Forrester, commissioned by SAP Engagement Cloud, found that customer-obsessed brands with an omnichannel marketing strategy saw 62% increased sales of higher margin items compared to non-customer-obsessed brands. 

The omnichannel approach gives two huge benefits – cost savings and revenue growth, which significantly impacts financial results and drive business outcomes.

6. Better data and analytics

Omnichannel integrates data from various sources—CRM, advertising, online stores, apps, and social media. The data is reliable and consistent. This allows for more accurate analysis of customer behavior and better personalization of product offers and communications. Having everything in one place provides unified analytics that helps you accurately track and report on the performance of your campaigns. This not only helps you see which campaigns are moving the needle (and which need work), it also helps you to attribute sales to specific campaigns and channels, demonstrate the revenue impact of your activities, and make smarter marketing decisions moving forward.

Source: Sinch

An omnichannel marketing approach seamlessly connects all channels, platforms, and devices, while a multichannel marketing channel tends to use just one or two communication channels that aren’t necessarily interconnected.

https://sinch.com/blog/what-is-omnichannel-marketing/

Which Channels are in an Omnichannel and Multichannel Marketing Strategy?

Before diving into individual channels, it is worth noting that while communication is inherently multichannel, omnichannel takes it a step further by connecting these touchpoints through shared customer data. Furthermore, a mature omnichannel strategy seamlessly bridges digital and offline worlds, uniting direct communication and sales. Let’s put it this way: an omnichannel marketing approach seamlessly connects all channels, platforms, and devices, while a multichannel marketing channel tends to use just one or two communication channels that aren’t necessarily interconnected. The most important channels are:

Author:
Joanna Pytlakowska
VP Sales & Marketing, Comtrust